DIAMOND STYLE

EVERYDAY OBJECTS, THE DIAMOND EDITION

Stylish or garish? It’s all a question of taste. But if you want people to take notice, it’s got have bling.

The act of setting diamonds onto everyday objects, and sometimes even body parts, like teeth, have become synonymous with certain sub-cultures, like the hip-hop. But it’s not the only one.

Sometimes the items are showy, covered from top to bottom in gemstones, and sometimes they are elegantly designed, with a solitaire or pair of stones providing some understated flourish. The following are but a handful of examples.

BLING, BLING

Diamond-set cell phones are a dime a dozen. Okay…possibly more than a dime, but they come in all shapes, sizes and makes, be it iPhone, Samsung, Blackberry and even the modest Nokia. As George Orwell once famously pointed out, all are created equal, but some are more equal than others.

In 2013, a Chinese businessman contacted the British diamond bejeweling expert Stuart Hughes, saying that he had a 26-carat black diamond he wished to incorporate into an iPhone 5.

Hughes agreed, and nine weeks later unveiled a phone that was valued at $15 million. With a body of solid gold, it incorporated 600 white diamonds, with the Apple logo on the back constructed from 53 gems. The massive black stone was set in the home button.

PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ

Come let’s mix where Rockefellers walk with sticks, or umbrellas in their mitts, puttin’ on the ritz.

But if you are not a Rockefeller, you might just want what is billed as the world’s most expensive suit. Designed by Richard Jewels of Manchester and Stuart Hughes of Liverpool (yes, the same Stewart Hughes of iPhone fame), it is made from cashmere wool, silk and set with 480 diamonds, with a total weight of 240 carats.

According to its designer, each stone weighs 0.5 carats, and is of G color and VS2 clarity. Only three were ever made.

And the price? As the saying goes, if you need to ask, you most probably cannot afford it.

NOT FOR DUMMIES

For the child that has everything, here is something that he or she might not have. It is a diamond-set dummy, or pacifier, as referred to by some.

Suommo, a Spanish luxury design company, has come out with what it calls the Dodo Dummy, which is a pacifier made of solid 18K rose gold set with diamonds. The price is $40,800, which is nothing to cry about. Also, realizing that the baby might not fully appreciate what has been handed to it, the dummy can also be worn by the mom, as a brooch.

The pacifier is part of the Baby Suommo collection, which includes a diamond-encrusted bottle and a solid gold crib, which fortunately also can be used as a bassinet.

GLITZ AND GLAMICURE

Luxury Nail Lounge, a salon in Newport Beach, California, was looking for a gimmick that would help separate itself from the competition, and came up with the idea of luxury nail manicure.

Several options are available. The Gold Rush Manicure, for example, allows the treatment to be done in a private room, using the company’s own nail polish, which comes in a diamond-encrusted bottle and involves the application of 24K gold flakes. Free champagne is also thrown in.

But if you want to go really big, then the top of the line manicure is the one for you. Called the Glitz & Glamicure, it costs a cool $25,000. The salon will closed for your treatment, and your will receive all that is provided by the Gold Rush Manicure, and also up to 20 GIA-graded diamonds that are affixed to your nails.